SHELF LIVES OF SOME COMMON STORAGE FOODS

The chart given below has been adapted from a number of different
shelf-life charts published by the cooperative extension services of
several states. It presupposes no special packaging other than the way the food comes from the store. The general assumption is that when a given foods’ taste, appearance or texture begin to take on noticeable changes it has reached the end of its best marketable shelf life and should be rotated out. This is not to say the food is no longer edible, but it is losing nutritional content at the same time so no purpose is served by keeping it for longer than is necessary to replace it with fresher stock. For what it’s worth, I’m not fully in agreement with it myself, but it’s a good working hypothesis and I modify it by my personal experience which may vary from yours. If it is a dry food then only dry utensils should be used to remove it from its container. The less light, moisture, heat and oxygen it comes into contact with, the longer the food will keep.